Forensics and Clue
by The Atomic Cafe
Summary: MacClaireStella. A power outage, a game of Clue, and a touch of wine brings people closer in more ways than one.


**Forensics and Clue**

**By Dimgwrthien**

_Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: NY or affiliates._

"Miss Scarlet, dagger, conservatory."

Mac and Stella reached for the yellow packet in the center of the Clue game board at the same time. Stella took her hand back, letting Mac read the cards off to the two women.

"Dagger…" He flipped to the other two cards. "Scarlet… conservatory. You win. Again."

Claire grinned and reached for the poker chips on the game board. The three had spent part of the stormy night playing a hybrid game of Clue and poker. Mac and Stella, together, had lost thirty dollars to Claire so far.

Stella threw down her cards and pencil, cursing. Claire only grinned at her. "How're you winning every game?"

"Oh, I'm cheating," Claire answered with a straight face. "See, I have cameras around to a car waiting outside, and there's a chip in my brain that reports all of your cards back to me. And I look at the cards before Mac puts them in the envelope."

Mac smiled and put his own cards down, grabbing his wallet off the table. Stella sighed and started collecting the cards while giving Claire a curious look.

"You two needs to stop thinking about blood stains. See, if there were any blood stains and gun powder on the game board, I would lose. Give me some credit. I'm still stuck in the days of Mac as a police officer." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Mac raised his eyebrows. "If you love me enough to kiss me, you can pay me back."

"Always do." Claire stuffed the poker chips back into a bag and reached under the table for the stash of money. She put it in the center of the table, unable to remember who had what amount. "Go ahead and take whatever you put in."

As Stella started to pull back one of her single dollar bills, the lights seemed to dim before flickering and going out completely.

Claire felt an arm against hers. "Mac?" she asked, and the arm drew away.

"Let me find candles or something," she heard Mac say, and then heard a thumping sound followed by Mac cursing.

"A power outage in New York?" Stella asked. "Wow. Hope it didn't spread too far."

"It is a bad storm." Claire reached forward and started to fold up the game board when Stella hissed. "Sorry!" Claire yelped.

"Just my arm. It's alright. Here - let me get it."

"Get what?" Claire felt Stella's hand brush hers as Stella took the game board and cards.

Mac reentered the room with a box of matches and a few candles. Only one was lit, giving off a faint light.

"Didn't hear you crash into anything," Stella told him, finding the box and stuffing the board back in. "You nocturnal or something?"

"No, I just use my hands rather well." Mac grabbed the end of the table, trying to make it out easier in the dim light. He placed the candle in the center of the table. Claire seemed to be grinning, as was Stella. "What?"

"That sounded vaguely… dirty," Stella told him. "I'm sorry, I'm just feeling a bit weird. Should I go?"

"You're not going to have a fun time with those stairs or outside," Claire answered. Her grin widened, casting shadows across her face. "And that did sound wrong."

Mac blinked. "I wasn't talking about -"

"Of course you weren't," Stella answered, laughing a little. "I'm really sorry. Just ignore me."

"He is, though, you know," Claire told her. Her grin widened just a bit, and Mac blushed.

Stella looked interested. "So Mrs. Taylor likes to kiss and tell?"

"Very much so." Claire drew her hand over the candle, watching the flame dance a bit. "C'mon, Mac. Admit that you do."

"Do what?" His eyes looked between both girls suspiciously. "The touching or the telling?"

This time, Stella and Claire both burst out laughing. They continued for minutes, it seemed until Mac finally joined in, grinning, blushing, and admitting that he was a bit clueless for once. Claire stopped first, gasping for breath, still giggling a bit.

"I'm ashamed of the day you two met," Mac told them, feeling a bit light-headed. He stared at the light in the room that made their shadows long against the walls. "I knew that putting two women together ends with -"

"Shameless and dirty humor? The need for wine?" Claire asked. She got off the floor, squinting through the dark. "I'm getting on it. You both want?"

Stella nodded, and Mac finally gave in. Claire left the room, leaving behind only the sound of her walking into the counters and muttering darkly at them.

"You're adorable, you know that?" Stella asked, touching Mac's arm lightly.

"You're not drunk enough to start with that." Mac smiled at her, bending his wrist to touch her hand faintly. "You can't hit on a married man until the fourth drink. Maybe fifth for you."

Stella smiled, and Mac had to watch her face as the smile unfolded. He was reminded of a flower every time she did.

"I know. You're just adorable. You already know that by now." Stella pulled back as Claire entered the room and set down three glasses and a bottle of wine.

"Hey, no touching until the fifth drink," Claire told her playfully. "Don't you know that rule?"

"Mac just said it first." Stella took the bottle from Claire and poured the drinks. "You two know each other too well."

"Well, 'Magical Mac and his Hands of the Devil' never stop talking. I swear, he's probably told me everything about him in the world by now. Hard to ignore him."

"I don't talk much, and I don't have… hands of the devil…" Mac told her, the blush rising into his cheeks a bit more.

Claire took a long sip of her drink and held one of his hands. "Whatever you say," she answered.

They drank until the last drop from the bottle was gone. The power remained out, plunging them into a darkness that they were unused to seeing in the wakeful city of New York. The rain drizzled against the window until Mac put on soft music that seemed to cleanse the night. Claire listened to it carefully, starting to pick out the tune and drumming it against the table and glasses softly, singing the familiar words. It was an old song, the type that Mac liked to play, and Stella joined in soon. Mac smiled, watching the two as he had most of the night. Their interactions seemed so pure and friendly to the point where he couldn't believe that one was his coworker and the other his wife who were brought together by his life.

Claire leaned into him, wrapping an arm around his neck. He felt drunk, and knew that the two girls certainly would be feeling the effects. Even if he didn't get drunk often at all - maybe only once every year, he supposed, though he never thought about it - it felt nice. He didn't worry about the work he would return to the day after the next morning, didn't worry about the power outage and how it would be ruining the files of his computer, didn't worry that Stella still kept a hand on his, warming it. Stella leaned into him with Claire, and the three were left on the floor around the coffee table, leaned back onto the carpeted floor.

Mac felt Claire kiss his cheek lightly, though he could no longer see her face. The candle seemed to have blown out, and he just felt the slight touch from her. Stella's arm moved closer to his chest, a touch too closer for comfort, and he felt both of their bodies.

Stella touched Claire's arm lightly. _Too drunk._ She considered excusing herself and going home, but it seemed too natural. Maybe the wine made friendship seem a bit more intimate. It seemed to have the same effect ice cream seemed to have on so many women during romance movies. Claire didn't move, so Stella brushed her fingertips a bit more against her, leaning enough to plant a kiss close to Mac's mouth.

No one moved, and barely a sound broke over the music. There was just the sound of skin against skin, a faint breeze of fabric moving up, over, onto the ground. Mac didn't even notice that Claire's shirt had been removed down to her bra until he felt her bare stomach against his chest. Her neck arched enough to put her nose in his hair and let her place a warm kiss that ended with her tongue against his cheek.

Stella felt down to Mac's neck, kissing it lightly, moving over his Adam's apple until she hit Claire's bare shoulder. It felt warm and soft, too feminine for her to think of Mac at the moment, but it felt so right. Claire didn't seem to mind, so Stella went deeper, feeling out every inch of Claire's shoulders down to her breasts.

Mac looked at the two girls as they moved closer to each other, leaning over him, still pressing against his body. Nothing seemed wrong with the image, even when he knew that he should have felt something…. What was there to feel, though? He had always remained too far into the past or too deep into the future, and it was his moment, just a few minutes, to think about the present.

He leaned down until he reached Claire's legs. Stella leaned down onto the space where he had lie, making them look like a strange web. On his elbows, Mac could rub enough against them until Stella broke away from Claire, making a faint noise.

"Will this change anything in the morning?" Mac whispered before he went any further.

He heard the faint whisper from each, both sounding breathless and wispy. "No."


End file.
